The Ulrich/Baker Ancestral Lines

Jacob Hochstetler, was the Father,  is said to have had his beard removed and the hair of his head plucked out, in a manner not unlike the plucking of a chicken or turkey.  A tuft of hair of about 4” was left on the top of his head and then braided and decorated with feathers, etc., in the style of the Indian tribe.  Jacob is recorded as saying he only knew of his location twice in his 3 years of captivity; once in Erie, Pennsylvania and once as far north as Detroit, Michigan.  

“He never became reconciled to a savage life but longed for his home, desolate as it was. He never gave up the idea of freeing himself in one way or the other.  He tried to conceal his feelings, acting as if he were contented and reconciled, but the Indians were hard to deceive and in spite of his pretenses, they never fully trusted him.”   (Descendents of Jacob Hostetler – DJH, Pg. 36)

“In the absence of able-bodied men, Hochstetler was to provide for the families by procuring game. He was sent out daily to hunt, with orders to return at the close of the day. He was given a gun, a few bullets, always counted, and a corresponding quantity of powder, with either a butcher knife or a tomahawk, but never both.  On his return he was required to give an account of the ammunition used.  If he did not bring home some game for every bullet used he had to explain why he missed.  He desired more that a daily outfit for his escape, so he prepared in a dry place in a standing hollow tree, where he stored away a little powder and a few bullets, which together with the outfit of the day he considered sufficient to venture the undertaking.  Of course he never saved more than one bullet in any one day and was obliged to give an evasive or misleading account.”  (DJH, Pg. 38.)  

Editors Comment: Note the author’s efforts to not use the phrase that “he lied” to the Indians. 

As Jacob was planning his eventual escape, he discussed and planned with another white prisoner, John Specht.  On the planned day, Jacob – armed on this day with a butcher knife – went off to hunt, with John Specht going off to hunt in the opposite direction.  They planned a triangular position for them to meet in the evening.  They were not worried about being pursued by the tribe since at this time of the year the tribe consisted mostly of the elderly or children.  Their main concern was encountering an Indian along the path or in the woods.  This is exactly what occurred. 

On the first night, under an overhanging rock, where a fire could not be seen in any direction,  the two men met and began to start a fire.  At that moment, a sole Indian appeared.  The two men discussed in German their new escape plan.  Jacob was to take his gun and state he was going for food, for all of them.  John was to collect wood for the fire, collecting and returning, but heading out further each time, until he could escape.  Their new meeting place was to be at a nearby stream.  John Specht never arrived.  Jacob is said to have returned late in the evening, creeping to the overhanging rock and looked down.  The fire was almost out, he could see no people, yet he made out what he could see to be fresh meat and blood.  He considered that John was killed by the Indian.  Jacob then carried on his escape alone. 

“…never stopping for the night’s rest.  He went in the direction of his home, as he had ascertained before he started, and stopped only when completely exhausted.  He often concealed himself during the daytime and traveled at night.  Her crossed streams and mountains until he reached what he thought was one of the head branches of the Susquehanna, then he began to build a raft.” (DJH, Pg.x)

Jacob selected a fallen tree, in a deserted area, and used a tactic of pioneers to avoid chopping.  Several fires were built under the tree in the night, they were kept burning or with red embers so that by morning the tree would have several sections where the fire would have burned through.  He would have tied the logs together with wild grapevines or hickory branches.  A verbal history passed on by family members have told a story that Jacob was so hungry that he found a dead possum full of maggots and ate it.  He then fell asleep with a full stomach.  While sleeping, his dead wife appeared to him in a dream and spurred him on, assuring that he was on the right path.  He awoke and boarded the raft. 

He floated down the Susquehanna river and became too weak to stand, or wave, to make himself seen.   When the raft arrived to Fort Harris (present day Harrisburg, PA) it was spotted and reported to the Fort as a ‘strange object floating down the river’.  A fort commander with a telescope identified that there was a man on the raft and a rescue operation was set in motion.  It is interesting to note that he would have passed two other forts (Fort Hunter and Fort Augusta) without being noticed, perhaps floating past them in the night.  

It is estimated that Jacob’s escape took 3-4 weeks; surviving on a wild duck, crawfish, nuts and tree/flower buds, and perhaps the dream-inducing-maggot-infested possum, although it is not recorded that Jacob, himself, ever spoke of eating the possum.  It is considered that he had travelled from northeastern Ohio or northwestern Pennsylvania, or even southwestern New York.   

With a story so old, some facts become questioned.  Even the existence of Fort Harris, the fort where he was rescued,  is questioned.  Perhaps it was less of a fort and more of a house and a network of other buildings, that had been re-inforced and had holes cut in the log walls for scouting and defense.  In this case, it would have been a house built by John Harris in 1705, who operated a ferry across the river.  He had similar run-ins with native Indians as the Hochstetler family did.  The house probably did not begin to be re-inforced and armed until the beginning of the English and French turmoil and the Indians began fighting for the French in 1755 until 1758.  The Hochstetler Massacre was in 1757.   John Harris, for his part, was forced to re-inforce and stockpile supplies on his property and business, thus possible turning it into “Fort Harris”.

With Jacob “The Immigrant” and “Indian-captive” now free and recuperating.  He set forth, like any father, to obtain the freedom of his children.  It seems that although he had no contact with his boys during these years, he knew of his boys, that they were alive.   Some Indians had undoubtedly helped obtain information as to the tribes and general location of his sons.   The Indians often would speak of the white people / children in the different tribes, as they would also seek out information of the Indian children / captives that were being held by white families. 

The fight for the required legistlation and the cooperation of the Indian and White leaders was a multi-year battle.